The expression the way occurs a lot in the Bible. It occurs 39 times in the NT and 215 times in the OT.
Occasionally, the way refers to Christ. He said, “I am the way…” (John 14:6). Five times in Acts, Christianity is called the Way (Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 24:14, 22)—capitalized in the NKJV.
But the NT most often uses the way figuratively to describe living in a God-pleasing way:
The way of righteousness (Matt 21:32; 2 Pet 2:21).
The way of peace (Luke 1:79; Rom 3:17).
The way of God (Matt 22:16; Mark 12:14; Luke 20:21; Acts 18:26).
The way of the Lordi (Acts 18:25).
The way of truth (2 Pet 2:2).
The OT also uses the expression the way figuratively to describe a lifestyle that is pleasing to the Lord. To simplify the study, I’m focusing only on uses of the way in Proverbs:
The way of goodness (2:20).
The way of wisdom (4:11).
The way of life (6:23; 10:17; 15:24).
The way of righteousness (8:20; 12:28; 16:31).
The way of the upright (15:19).
The way of understanding (9:6; 21:16).
The way [a child] should go (22:6).
The way (15:10; 23:19).
Proverbs also uses the way to warn the believer of the path to avoid. These include “the way of evil” (2:12; 4:14), “the way of the wicked” (4:19; 12:26; 15:9), “the way to Sheol [the grave]ii” (7:27), “the way of death” (14:12; 16:25), “the way of a fool” (12:15), “the way of the unfaithful” (13:15), and “the way of the perverse” (22:5).
The Lord Jesus is the way to everlasting life. All who believe in Him have that life and will never perish.
The Lord Jesus is also the way to fullness of life. All who follow Him experience abundance of life, regardless of their circumstances.
Anyone who abandons the way that is pleasing to God does so to his own harm. God knows best. He tells us the way to enjoy His blessings.
Of course, we must be careful to follow God’s way in the way He prescribed. Remember David’s foolishly trying to move the ark in a way contrary to what God had commanded (1 Chron 15:1-2ff.)? Uzzah died as a result (2 Sam 6:7).
The way of righteousness is not followed by means of legalistic observances (Galatians 5-6). It is followed by longing for the pure milk of God’s Word (1 Pet 2:1-3) and having our minds renewed thereby (Rom 12:2; 2 Cor 3:18).
I urge you to do a study of all uses of the expression the way in the Bible. You will find it very encouraging. Pastors might want to preach a series on how the way is used in the Bible. Sunday school teachers and home Bible study leaders could conduct a series on this topic as well.
Keep grace in focus and you will keep walking in the way of righteousness.
i That expression is also found in all four Gospels (Matt 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4; John 1:23), but there it refers to the path of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is essentially a reference to preparing the way for His coming kingdom.
ii The NKJV translates Sheōl as ”hell” here. But that is misleading. Both faithful and unfaithful believers went to the good part of Sheol prior to Jesus’ ascension (Luke 16:19-31). The NIV and NET translations render Sheōl here as “the grave.” But most translations simply transliterate Sheōl as “Sheol” (NASB, HCSB, LEB, MEV, RSV, WEB, DARBY, ASV).
